Logano Wins Pole For Charlotte Cup Elimination Race

Joey Logano prepares for qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 3, 2022. Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images

Joey Logano wasn’t pleased with the way he negotiated the final chicane at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

The good news was that the final section of the 17-turn track — which is actually the opening chicane of the alternative qualifying configuration — didn’t hurt his effort significantly in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series time trials.

Turning a lap in 120.755 seconds (103.424 mph), Logano secured the pole position for Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race in the Cup Series Playoffs.

In earning his third Busch Light Pole Award of the season and the 25th of his career, Logano edged William Byron (103.300 mph) for the top starting spot by .097 seconds.

“It was OK,” Logano said of his qualifying lap. “I felt like I screwed up the final chicane here. I screwed up the first run and made it through (to the final round), and I screwed up half as bad the second time trying to adjust but not over-adjust and I under-adjusted myself at least, but the (No. 22) Shell/Pennzoil Mustang has some speed in it, obviously.

“It was really good through the rest of the racetrack. Starting up front is nice. Hopefully, we can do what we need to do this weekend. Our job is to get into the next round, and we’ll figure out what we need from here, but this is a great starting spot, for sure.

“We’ve got a good pit stall and we just need to try to keep that track position. It’s pretty sketchy when you lose your track position here, so we’ll try to keep it.”

Logano is fifth in the Cup standings, 18 points above the cut line, entering the race that will narrow the Playoff field from 11 drivers to eight (with Playoff driver Alex Bowman having been sidelined because of injury).

Daniel Suárez (103.103 mph) and Tyler Reddick (103.088 mph), both of whom have won road course races this season, will start third and fourth, respectively, followed by Logano’s Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney.

Double-duty driver A.J. Allmendinger earned the seventh starting spot ahead of Christopher Bell, who realistically needs a victory to advance to the Round of 12. Bell was the only Toyota driver to make the final round.

Two-time Charlotte road course winner Chase Elliott will start ninth, followed by Ross Chastain, who slammed the barrier between turns 5 and 6 on his qualifying lap.

Reddick, who was eliminated from the Playoffs, and Allmendinger, who is running full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, are the only two drivers in the top 10 not competing for the Cup Series championship.

The remaining Playoff drivers qualified as follows: Chase Briscoe 17th, Kyle Larson 18th and Denny Hamlin 24th.

NASCAR Cup Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
Bank of America 400 – October 8, 2022

Saturday’s Qualifying Results

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 80.755 103.424
2. 24 William Byron (P) Valvoline Chevrolet 80.852 103.300
3. 99 Daniel Suarez (P) CommScope Chevrolet 81.006 103.103
4. 8 Tyler Reddick 3Chi Chevrolet 81.018 103.088
5. 2 Austin Cindric # (P) Menards/Richmond Ford 81.290 102.743
6. 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Discount Tire Ford 81.336 102.685
7. 16 A.J. Allmendinger(i) Action Industries Chevrolet 81.646 102.295
8. 20 Christopher Bell (P) DeWalt Toyota 81.811 102.089
9. 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 82.087 101.746
10. 1 Ross Chastain (P) Worldwide Express Chevrolet 106.131 78.695
11. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 81.605 102.347
12. 41 Cole Custer Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford 81.712 102.213
13. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 81.718 102.205
14. 45 Bubba Wallace ROOT Insurance Toyota 81.726 102.195
15. 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet 81.757 102.156
16. 23 Ty Gibbs(i) Monster Energy Toyota 81.770 102.140
17. 14 Chase Briscoe (P) Ford Performance Racing School Ford 81.813 102.086
18. 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 81.878 102.005
19. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 82.000 101.854
20. 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 82.019 101.830
21. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 82.234 101.564
22. 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 82.460 101.285
23. 21 Harrison Burton # Dex Imaging Ford 82.491 101.247
24. 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Freight Toyota 82.496 101.241
25. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Harris Teeter/Scott Chevrolet 82.502 101.234
26. 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 82.538 101.190
27. 15 Joey Hand Ford BlueOval City Ford 82.538 101.190
28. 42 Ty Dillon QuickChek Chevrolet 82.558 101.165
29. 48 Noah Gragson(i) (P) Ally Chevrolet 82.583 101.135
30. 7 Corey LaJoie Raze Energy Chevrolet 82.741 100.941
31. 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Ford 82.832 100.831
32. 38 Todd Gilliland # First Phase Ford 82.908 100.738
33. 26 Daniil Kvyat(i) Hezeberg Systems Toyota 82.940 100.699
34. 77 Mike Rockenfeller Bon Secours/Swamp Rabbits Chevrolet 83.276 100.293
35. 51 J.J. Yeley(i) Nurtec ODT UBCF Ford 83.905 99.541
36. 27 Loris Hezemans(i) Hezeberg Systems Ford 84.060 99.358
37. 10 Aric Almirola Haas Automation Ford 0.000 0.000
38. 78 Josh Williams(i) Alloy Employer Services Ford 0.000 0.000
39. 50 Conor Daly Bitnile.com Chevrolet 0.000 0.000